An electronic apparatus may store information related to privacy, such as user location information, notes, financial transactions, etc., as well as data such as contacts, call history, messages, etc. In order to protect such information related to privacy, the electronic apparatus may be provided with various security functions. In particular, a method of maintaining security of an electronic apparatus by using user biometric information has been widely used. Such a method of maintaining the security of the electronic apparatus by using the biometric information may include fingerprint recognition, face recognition, iris recognition, etc.
Iris recognition is an identification technology for security purposes that uses characteristics of irises which differ among individuals. In addition, iris recognition may be accomplished by using a camera without any direct physical contact. A process of iris recognition, performed by an apparatus, may include acquiring an image, detecting an eye in the image to obtain an eye image, segmenting an iris of the eye, normalizing the iris image, creating a mask, extracting features of the normalized iris image, and encoding the normalized iris image and the mask according to the related art. The encoded iris image (i.e. an iris code) may be compared with a reference image for identification of a person or authentication thereof.
However, the use of the iris recognition technology in mobile devices is associated with a number of problems and difficulties, such as changing environment conditions, for example, indoor or outdoor lighting, sunny or cloudy weather, glasses or contact lenses in the detection area, user interaction difficulties, and performance limitations such as central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), camera resolution etc., which may degrade iris image quality, delay operations, increase recognition time, and increase processing time. As an example, the quality of an iris image may be significantly degraded due to insufficient iris illumination, a reflection from glasses, high eyelid occlusion, high gaze angle, high pupil deviations, and overexposure etc. Degrading the quality of an iris image results in recognition errors, power excess consumption, and increased user inconvenience.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.